33 Days to Purdue Football: Danny Anthrop

West Lafayette's native son Danny Anthrop is the player for today. I don't know if it's just me or if this is the generally accepted thought process but Danny is the key to this football season on offense. Yes, the QB is of course important but we all saw what happened last year when Anthrop went down to injury. In case you don't remember, the offense absolutely tanked with him. The team couldn't do ANYTHING without him on the field. His health will be a key concern for the Boilermaker football team this year.

Danny Anthrop - Sr.

West Lafayette, IN - (Central Catholic HS)

6', 191 pounds

Wide receiver

2015 Projection: Starting Wide Receiver (Key cog of the entire offense)

Danny Anthrop made one hell of a jump from his Sophomore year to his junior year. Despite the injury all of Danny's numbers popped. Despite missing the final three games of the season and part of the fourth Anthrop's receptions jumped from 17 to 38. His touchdowns jumped from two to four, and his total yardage jumped from 313 to 616.

More than just his individual stats you have to look at Anthrop's impact on the entire offense. During the first eight games of the season prior to his injury the Purdue offense averaged just under 29 points per game. That's by no means fantastic but if you've got a competent defense you should be able to win some games with that. After the injury, including the game in which he got injured, the team averaged a paltry 15 points and never scored more than 16 in those final four games. Sure the competition is an issue but Anthrop's injury was clearly an issue.

Everything I've read and everything I've been told indicate that Anthrop is fully healed. We are Purdue fans though so we are a bit reticent about any sort of knee issues. For this Purdue offense to be able to win any games they need Danny Anthrop out there up to his old self. They need him to a leader of the offense who will go out and make plays. They need him to use that break away speed, he's had an 80 yard reception each of the past two years, in order to spread the field and give the defense someone else to cover.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is Anthrop is the key in my mind. No pressure Danny!